Tray type sulphuric acid converter



April 0, 1940- N. TITLESTAD ,7 5

TRAY TYRE SULPHURIC ACID CONVERTER Filed Jan. 26, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY.

April 30, 1940. N. TITLESTAD PE SULPHURIC ACID CONVERTER TRAY TY Filed Jan. 26, 1958 2 SheetsSheet 2 mt L] $2 m9 INVENTOR. N/COA 4y 7/ 72 E25 7140 BY ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 3( J,194

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Nicolay Titlestad, White Plains, N. Y., assignor to Chemical Construction Corporation, New York, p N.j Y., a corporation of Delaware Application January 26, 1938, Serial No. 186,939 8 Claims. (01. 23-288) This invention relates to catalytic converters for exothermic vapor phase reactions, and more particularly to a modified layer or tray type cone verter for the vaporphaseoxidation of sulphur dioxide to sulphurttrioxide, which is used in the jThe invention will be described ingreater de- 5 contact sulphuric acid process. 1 a i tail with reference to the accompanying draw- It has been standard practice fortmany years ings which illustrate specific modifications theree in such plants to pass mixtures ofsulphur dioxide of and in which the same referencenumerals and air through aseries of layers ofwgplatinum designate the same or similar parts. In these 10 catalyst and toprovide intercooling between each drawings: a i i 10 layer to remove the heatgenerated by the reac- Fig. 1 is a vertical section through the primary tion. The present inventionjdeals with converters converter of a two-converter system constitute or converter systems of this type, but which are ing an embodiment of the invention. r especially designed for large capacity plants using Fig. 2 is a similarvertical section through the a 16- a highlyactive vanadium catalyst instead of the secondary converter of this system, and platinumcatalyst that has beenstandardin the i Fig. 3 is a vertical section through a converter older processes for manyyears. 1 representing a modified form of the invention One of the principal'objects futhe invention is which is adapted for a side inlet and outlet of to provide a converter forvapor-phase catalytic the gasesi k i 20 reactions in which a uniform temperature is A compa a 2 Will Show that 20 maintained throughout thewcatalyst layer in a they are ub t n i lly he am in c n r ion direction at right-angles to the direction of gas and rd sw the s reference numerals iijTow. A further object is-theprovisionof'interwill beused in their description. With this in cooling between the stages by 'a type of int mind, ,the converter; of Figs. 1 and 2 comprises cooler whichdo'es not increase the size or cost an uter nv rt r shell av n su at d p 25 of the;converter. A still further object is' the and ott mpi s 2 and 1 nd y ndr a s d s provision of a type of converter capable of%conch e uninsulatedbottom p e 3 struction in unusuallyylarge sizes which will not e on Supports 5, O One Of Which isillllse become warped or distorted under the high tem- G t thedrawings, an e inner Structure peratures at which such? converters are i run. of the nv r s n n res s on these bottom 30 Still another object is the provisionof a con -v t t W verter which is cheap and simple in construc- Within the converter shell I and welded or tion, easy to clean and repair, "and capable of otherwise attached to the bottom piece 3 e a producing high percenta yields a d ge number of supports or brackets 6 on which rests output perunit lu of onverter space i a catalyst basket I. This basketconsists of a 35 a with t t Obj t iv vertical cylindrical side wall 8 which is slightly converter consists ess tiall f out Ico less in diameter than the sidewall 4 of the con-t verter shell loosely containing an'inner catalyst verter shell, a perforated bottomflame a d a a basket which isso mounted as to provide an "an: heavy gas-tight partition ro s he entral my nular gas space adjacent the sidewalls of' the P therBOfcatalyst basket 7 is ou ted 40 convertershelll Upper and lower catalyst layers concentrically Withthe Side Wall 4 0f the are supported within theqcatalyst basket, with vertershell l and thereby providesan annular gas or without additional intermediate layers, and Passage H therebetweeni the incoming reaction gas mixture is caused to' Within the catalyst s 6 lower and upper it pass downwardly through the lower catalyst catalyst ye and 6 wh e aye s are s layer, th up through th annular space t ported on a numberof annular perforated grids the catalyst basket and the converter shell and H and T lower grids est on the ot then downwardly through the upper catalyst tom frame 9 of the catalyst basket I while the layer. It is also possible to pass the gases through D1 grids rest on a l ame N which the converter in the opposite; directioniwithout s w s p o ated to register with them. The 50 departing from the scope of the invention; By weight of the catalyst mass, which in a large size this provision thev sides oithe catalyst layers are? converter may amount to several tons for each insulated in such a manner that a uniform horia layer, is supported through the grids ltrand l1 zontal temperature is maintained, While the pasby means of upper and lowersupporting trusses 5 sage of the reaction gases downwardlythrough the two or more catalyst layers automatically sets up and maintains therein the temperature gradient which is necessary for optimum percentage conversion.

20 and 21, thelowertruss 2| resting on the botresting on the heavy partition II].

. grids 33 resting on a perforated plate which is similar to the frame IS andil, but which is also attached to a perforated gasdistributing plate extending across the-catalyst basket. An axial gas outlet pipe .6 leads from a space 4| below the upper catalyst layer Il'through. the center of this catalyst layer, and out through the top" piece of the converter shell, from which point it is connected by means of suitable piping and intercoolers to the inlet pipe 42 of the secondary converter illustrated'inFig. 2. I

The secondary converter is identical in construction with that of the primary converter of Fig. 1, with the exception that the filter 32 and its supporting grid 33 and plate 34 are not used and the gas distributing plate 35 is simply attached to the side wall 8 of the catalyst basket. By reason of the omission of these elements, more room is provided for the lower catalyst layer I5,

which is necessarily thicker becausethe reaction therein reaches equilibrium more slowly than in theprimary converter. a

Both the primary and secondary converters of Figs. 1 and 2 are surrounded by jackets 50, which are preferably adjustable and removable and which form with the cylindrical side walls 4 an air-duct 5! for. maintaining a flow of cooling air along the converter, shell. These jackets are preferably supported on brackets 52 attached to the lower side walls of the converter shell, and may be provided with dampers or other suitable means for controlling the flow of cooling air therethrough.

The operation of the converter is apparent from the arrows on the drawings, which indicate the direction of flow of the gases. A highly active vanadium contact mass, which is preferably a pelleted mass of the type described in U. S. Patent No. 1,896,320, is charged onto the lower and'upper supporting grids of each of the catalyst baskets to a level such as is indicated on the drawings. The converter is brought up to reaction temperatures by the passage of hot gases therethrough, after which a 79% SO2 air mixture is introduced at temperatures of approximately 380-430" C. into the inlet pipe 30 of the primary converter of Fig. 1. The gas is is introduced through the pipe 30 into the central zone 3| between the gas-tight'partition I0 and the filter 32, from which it passes downward- 1y through the filter and the lower catalyst layer, then outwardly and upwardly through the annular passage (I I between the catalyst basket and the converter shell, then downwardly through the upper catalyst layer it into the gas collecting space 4| and finally out through the outlet pipe ,49 and into the gas intercoolers which are not 'tal direction, while atthe same time they are effectively cooled by transfer of heat through the converter shell 4 to the cooling air passing within the air-duct 5|. It will thus be seen that the present invention provides an intercooler in the form of an annular passagealong the converter shell which serves the dual purpose of insulating the catalyst layers from radial heat losses and cooling the gases between catalyst stages, and which accomplishes these purposes without substantiallyincreasing the size of the converter.

The gases from the intercooler are admitted to the central zone of the secondary converter of Fig. 2 through the inlet pipe 42 from which point they follow a similar path of travel downwardly through'the lower catalyst layer 55, then upwardly through the annular passage I I and then downwardly through the final or clean-up layer I6 and out through the outlet pipe 40 to suitable absorption towers for absorbing their S03 con tent in 98-99% sulphuric acid forthe manufac gases in order to increase the effective area of the catalyst beds for agiven size of converter. In

the modification shown, the converter comprises a converter shell IOI with top and bottom pieces I02 and I03 and preferably cylindrical sides I04.

The bottom piece I03 is provided with lower brackets or steps I05 and similar brackets I06 are attached to the upper part of the side walls I04;

A modified form of catalyst basket III) is used in this converter, this basket consisting of a central gas receiving section I I I and upper and lower catalyst retaining sections H2 and I I3 which are supported respectivelyon the brackets I03 and I05. The upper catalyst retaining section consists of a cylindrical side wall H4 and an imperforate bottom section H5 which is attached. to the upper portion of the gas receiving section I I I. The lower'catalyst retaining section H3 consists of an upper imperforate top piece IIB which is also attached to the gas receiving section I I I and a cylindrical sidewall I I1 which terminates at: 50

its lower edge in an inturned'flange H8.

The central gas receiving section I'II is a cylinder ofsheet metal having perforations. I20,

I2I and I22 in its'upper, intermediate, and lower parts and also. having a gas-tight partition I23 between the upper and intermediate sets of perforations I20 and I2I. A gas inlet pipe I24 providescommunication from the exterior of the converter into the lower gas receiving spaces I25" below the partition I23, while a similar gas outlet pipe I26 extends from a gas discharge space I2! to the exterior of the converter. I

The gas receiving section III is so constructed that it operates both as a gas conduit for the admission and discharge 'of gases to and from the catalyst and as a central pier for bracing and supportingthe weight of both layers of catalyst. To this effect the upper catalyst layer I30 is supported in part on a central grid I3I which rests on the flanged top I32 of the gas receiving section III and in part on an annular grid-I33 the inner edge of which rests on the flange I32 and the outer edge on a double flange I34 attached to the annular side wall I I4 of the upper catalyst retaining section. Similarly, the lower cata- 1 '10 w j intercoolers similar to the annular passage H of Figs. 1 and 2. The converter shell is surrounded grids I36 and I31 which are supported by flanges l'38nearthe bottom of the gas receiving section III and in partby the fianges H8 above re ferred to. U l l Ihe side walls H4 and ll! of the upper and lower catalyst receiving sections are slightly less in diameter than the side, wall I04 of the con verter shell, thereby providing upper and lower annular gas passages I40 and I which act as l by a cylindrical jacket I50 which forms therewith an air-duct [5| for maintaining a flow of bracket I52 attached to the lower side wall of the I21. the catalyst are by way of the openings I22 con-.

gas receiving space I2Tand pass through the outlet pipe I26 to a gas cooler followed by an cooling air along the, converter shell. This jacket is preferably supported on a flange or converter shell, and is provided with dampers or othersuitable means for controlling the flow of 20 cooling air therethrough. A The arrows indicate the flow of the gases through the converter. 'I'hegases enter through the inletpipe I24 into the gas receiving section.

125 from which they are distributed over the lower catalyst layer I35 through the openings The hot gases passing downwardly from ducted through the lower annular gas passage 14! in intimate heat exchange relation, with the converter shell, which is continuously cooled by. afiowof air introduced in the air-duct 15!. The

gases then continue their upward flow through the upper annular pipe l4 ll and arefinally distributed over and passed downwardly through the upper catalyst layer I 30, where the reaction is completed. The reacted gases collect in the absorption tower, which apparatus is indicated diagrammatically at I60.

From the foregoing detailed description it will be. seen that the objects of l the invention are accomplished by the modificationsillustrated. It

t is apparent, however, that variations and subported across the bottom and an upper catalyst layer supported near the top thereof, gas spaces at the bottom and the top respectively of said catalyst layers and in communication therewith, a gas tight partition across, said basket between said catalyst layers, an outer converter shell loosely enclosing said basket, the basket and the inner walls of said converter shell defining a gas passageway in communication with the gas space at the bottom of the lower catalyst layer and the gas space at the top of the upper catalyst layer, an inlet for passage of a reaction gas mixture into and through the catalyst layer first in time,

means for passing the hot reaction gas mixture.

therefrom through the passageway and into and through the other catalyst layer, and a jacket surrounding the side walls of said converter shell. and forming therewith an air duct for maintaining a fiow of cooling air along the converter shell.

2.A converter for vapor phase catalytic reactions comprising in combination a catalyst basket the side walls of which are imperforate having. a lower catalyst layer supported across the bottom and an upper catalyst layer supported near the top thereof, a gas tight partition across said basket between said catalyst layers,

a layer of filtering material between said partition and said lower catalyst layer, an outer converter shell loosely enclosing said basket, the basket and the inner walls of the converter shell defining a gas passageway in communication with the gas outlet at the bottom of the lower catalyst layerand the gas inlet at the top of the upper catalyst layer, an inlet for introducing a reaction gas mixture into the space between the filter and the partition, and for passage for it downwardly through the filter and the lower catalyst layer, and means for passing the hot reaction gas mixture therefrom upwardly through the passageway and into and downwardly through the upper catalyst layer.

3. A converter for vapor phase catalytic reactions comprising in combination a catalyst basket the side walls of which are imperforate having a lower catalyst layer supported across the bottom. and an upper catalyst layer supported near the top thereof, a gas tight partition across said basket between said catalyst layers, an outer converter shell loosely enclosing said basket, means for passing a flowof cooling gas along the outer side walls of said converter shell, the basket and the inner walls ofthe converter shell defining a gas passageway in communication with the gas outlet at the-bottom of the lower catalyst layer and the gas inlet at the top of the upper catalystlayer, an inlet for introducing a reaction gas mixture into the space between the lower. catalyst layer and the partition, and for passage for it downwardly through the lower catalyst layer, and means for passing the hot reaction gas mixture therefrom upwardly through the passageway and into and downwardly through the upper catalyst layer.

4. A converter for vapor phase catalytic reactions comprising in combination a catalyst basket the side walls of which are imperforate having a lower catalyst layer supported across the bottom and an upper catalyst layersupported near the top thereof, a gas tight partition across said basket between said catalyst layers, an outer converter shell loosely enclosing said basket, a jacket surrounding the side walls of said converter shell and forming therewith an air duct for maintaining a flow of cooling air along the converter shell, the basket and the inner walls of theconvertershell defining a gas passageway in communication with the gas outlet at the bottom of the lower catalyst layer and the gas inlet at the top of the upper catalyst layer, an inlet for introducing a reaction gas mixture into the space between the lower catalyst layer and the partition, and for passage for it downwardly through the lower catalyst layer, and means for passing the hot reaction gas mixture therefrom upwardly through the passageway and into and, downwardly through the upper catalyst layer.

5. A converter for vapor phase catalytic reactions comprising in combination an inner catalyst basket the side walls of which are imperforate consisting of a central gas receiving section and upper and lower catalyst retaining sections, said gas receiving section being in gas communication with said catalyst sections, a gas as, t

basket consisting of upper and lower tight partition-across said gas receiving section, a converter shell loosely enclosing :saidbasket, a gas inlet pipe extending through the side o' flsaid converter shell into the gas receiving section on one side of the partition, and a gas outlet pipe leading through the side of the converter shell from the gas receiving section on the other side of said partition.

6. A converter for vapor phase catalytic reactions comprising in combination an inner catalyst basket the side walls of which are imperforate and a converter shell loosely enclosing said catalyst basket, said catalyst cat alyst retaining sections and a central gas receiving section in the form of a perforated cylindrical pier which extends from within the upper catalyst retaining section to the bottom of the converter shell, and in gas communication with the catalyst retaining sections, catalyst supports in said upper and lower catalyst -retaining sections resting on said'gas receiving section, a gas tight partition across said gas receiving section, a gas inlet pipe leading into the I gas receiving section on one side of the parti-\ tion, and a gas outlet pipe leading out of the gas receiving section on the other side of said partition.

7. A method of temperature regulation in exothermic vapor phase catalytic reactions which comprises passing the gases to be reacted. at realystlayers in a direction at right angles to the gas'flow bypassing the hot reaction gas'mixture from the first-catalyst layer through the annular ,passagedefined byv the adjacent side Walls of the catalyst basket and the converter shell in a direction opposite to its direction of flow through'the catalyst and thereby enveloping the side walls of both -of the catalyst layers with said hot reaction gas mixture, then passing-said gas mixture through the succeeding catalyst layer, and concurrently passing a stream of coolthe gas flow by passing the hot reaction gas mixture, from the lower catalyst layer upwardly through the annular passage defined by the adjacent side Walls of the catalyst basket and the converter shell, enveloping the side walls of both of the catalyst layers with said hot reaction gas mixture, then passing said gas mixture downwardly through the upper catalyst layer, and concurrently passing a stream of cooling gas along the exterior side walls of the converter shell to cool the hot reaction gas mixture.

NICOLAY TITLESTAD.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION. Patent No. 2,19 ,79 April 0, 19m.

NICOLAY TITLESTAD. It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 5, sec-- 0nd column, lines 6, 28, and 50, claims 2, 5, and h. respectively, after i the Word and. comma "thereof," insert a gasoutlet at the bottomtof the lower catalyst layer, a gas inlet at the top of the upper catalyst layer,- and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this hth day of June, A. D. l9h0.

Henry Van Arsdale (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

